Freedom and Its Relationship to the Commandment and Obedience
Main Idea
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III speaks about freedom and its relationship to the commandment and obedience, explaining that God loves freedom and therefore created human beings and angels as free beings. God granted human beings freedom of will, allowing them even to disobey His commandments or deny His existence, without God abolishing this freedom or forcing anyone to love and obey Him. A truly free person is one who uses freedom properly, realizing that it is connected to responsibility for all actions and choices.
Spiritual Message
His Holiness explains that obedience does not contradict freedom; rather, obedience within the limits of goodness carries a blessing because it allows a person to benefit from the experience, knowledge, and spiritual guidance of others. He presents the example of the Prodigal Son, who used his freedom to leave his father, but followed a wrong path and paid the price for his choices. He eventually realized that a life of obedience was better than the freedom that had led him to destruction. He also explains that true freedom is not simply doing whatever a person wishes, but rather inner liberation from sin, desire, injustice, deviation, and bondage to Satan.
Educational Lesson
His Holiness emphasizes that human freedom is not absolute, for absolute and complete freedom belongs to God alone, while human freedom has limits that preserve the rights of others, public order, goodness, and righteousness. A person must not use freedom to harm others, damage oneself, or violate God’s commandments. A person does not possess himself absolutely, because he belongs to God and is also connected to his family, society, and the Church; therefore, he has responsibilities toward them. He explains that God has established safeguards for freedom, such as conscience, the commandments, the Holy Bible, laws, and authorities, so that freedom does not turn into deviation or disorder. He compares these safeguards to the banks of a river, which do not restrict its waters but preserve them from spreading out and turning into swamps.
Practical Application
His Holiness calls upon every person to connect freedom with knowledge and guidance, rather than making decisions based on ignorance or impulsiveness. He also encourages obedience to God, parents, one’s father of confession, spiritual guide, teachers, and those in authority, as long as such obedience remains within the limits of goodness. He emphasizes the importance of using authority to establish justice and protect people’s rights, because those in positions of authority are accountable before God for fulfilling their responsibilities. The primary goal is to liberate the human being inwardly first, so that external freedom can be used properly. A person who is enslaved by habits, sins, or desires is not truly free, even if he claims to do whatever he wishes. True freedom, in the Christian understanding, is the freedom of the heart from sin, as the Holy Bible says: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
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